Honor Among Thieves
by Ludivine d'Aten
Summary: Botan is sent to get information from Kurama about a string of thefts that greatly concern Spirit World. He seems to know - and want - more than he is letting on.
1. Chapter 1

**Apparently I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. I guess I'll just write fanfiction, then. Sorry, Pop.**

He couldn't be mad about it. Stealing wasn't when you happened to find something, right? Though, if it had been his wallet, she'd have returned it.

_Oh, sorry, Kurama—I found your hair on my coat and kept it in case of emergencies, and I knew it was yours because only Kuwabara has red hair too but this one was long and it was months ago really and I didn't think you'd need it back, it being a hair and all, but it was a bit sneaky and I don't have anyone else's hair, but I doubt Hiei would be obliging, anyway._

Botan inhaled; her mind ran so fast, sometimes, it felt like she was running too. She found a student walking his girlfriend home and asked him the time.

"Twenty after three."

"Thank you!" Botan smiled at the boy's girlfriend in a way she hoped was non-threatening, but the girl didn't seem to like her, anyway. The couple continued away from Meioh Academy as Botan checked her compass. _It's still taking me to the school_, she thought. _Yusuke would've been home for hours already._

Botan's blue uniform among the throngs of fuschia students was the last thing anyone stared at when they looked her way; sure, the violet eyes were odd up close, and the unnatural tint of her bouncy ponytail got more stares than Hiei at a petting zoo, but it was the red compass on her wrist that made the girl seem so out of place. Sure, it looked just like a cheap watch, but now that she was honing in on Kurama, she had to keep her eyes glued to the compass's face so she wouldn't miss him, though she thought she knew where he would be.

Someone near her scoffed. "Mars is that way, sweetheart." The punk and his friends hissed their laughter, and Botan pressed her lips together before she—

"Actually, smarty-pants, Mars is _that_ way this time of year. And _I'm_ only going to _public_ school." Too late.

His friends howled at his shame. Botan smiled and turned back to the Academy.

"He should be just about . . . here! Oh, no." Botan peeked up through the window where Kurama's back was to her; he was cornered by three cute classmates who seeed to bathe in his shadow every time Botan came here. She rapped on the window, and he turned, his mask of politeness cracking into a smile of relief. He motioned for her to wait and turned back to his fans. He didn't keep her waiting too long; he met her between the window and maple tree and wore a genuine grin.

"Did I save _you_ for a change?" Botan teased.

"You did." He pulled one hand from his pockets and scratched at his nape. "I guess I owe you now."

"How can you say that? The score is one to . . . well, I lost count of all the times you've helped me."

"Yes, well, this day could have been much worse. Thank you."

Botan smiled. "You can pay me back now if you want. Where's your schoolbag? We can't talk here!"

Kurama pointed a thumb at the window. "Actually, I have some lab work."

"Oh. Maybe tomorrow, then."

"That . . . isn't what I meant. I reserved the biology lab for a few tests. We can talk there." He offered her an arm, and a ring of gossip flew around them when Botan took it.

As they made their way inside, Botan noticed the sneers she got from the other branches of the Kurama Fangirl League. _Oh yeah_, she thought. _He's Suichi Minamino here._

He gestured her to his table in Lab C and went to the coat rack. "I'm sorry about the attention you're getting, Botan. It's against code here for students to color their hair."

"I seriously doubt that's why your fangirls were glaring at me." She held up the Demon Compass. "Speaking of hair."

"Good—then you didn't have trouble finding me." Kurama buttoned his lab coat. "I always planned to give you some, actually, but it kept slipping my mind."

Was that _it_? She had worried for _nothing_? Well, no sense in pressing it. "So should we talk now, or shall I not disturb you? I can be quiet for your experiments, I promise."

"Not at all, Botan, I enjoy your company." Kurama was squinting at a beaker of fluid and speaking with the softness of an absent mind. He made a note in his textbook and stuck the pencil over his ear. "So what's new?"

"Well," she said, pulling out a notebook, "we've been getting a lot of reports on the Red Glove Gang."

"What an imbecilic name."

Botan laughed at his earnestness. "We can't all be Yoko Kurama, can we? Anyway, they have a few things in common with the king of thieves himself." She waited for him to look interested, but he was slicing a plant pod.

"I'm listening," he said.

"There's been a slew of heists lately, and that's usually no big deal to us when it happens in Demon World."

"But?"

"It's all Spirit World ambassadors. And it's all very high-profile stuff. Not Auntie's pearls."

"Artifacts."

"Right." Botan watched him cork some of the beaker's contents in a test tube. "Are you sure this is a good time?"

Kurama smiled. "Please don't fret. I'm just trying some inter-genus splicing to get the perfect paralysis poison for my Rose Whip."

"What! You can't do that here, Kurama, that's—"

He set his book in front of her and met her eyes. "I'll be good, Botan. Promise." He winked and resumed his work. "What kinds of artifacts have been taken?"

"You tell me."

He turned back to her and laughed when he saw she was joking. "I thought that was the kind of talk you wanted to have. Or are you going to give me a Spirit Gun, too?"

"I never knew you could be this feisty."

"You know what they say about a fox and his teeth." He smiled from the next table over, scribbling his notes and tossing his pencil down.

"You love that you're a fox, don't you?"

Kurama leaned over the table until he was too close to her. "What are _you_ on the inside? A bird?"

"Why, because I fly?"

"And you chirp."

"Is that so?"

"It is. And I always liked chasing birds."

Botan faked a cough. "So, about the great fox and the Red Glove Gang."

He had moved over to his bubbling poison. "What about them?"

"They've never been caught."

Kurama was silent a moment, looking beyond the tubes in front of him. "Is your pen ready?"

Botan nodded.

"If you don't have any information on its members, you're probably dealing with veterans—thieves who have been caught before. At least the leader is a career thief. He could be teaching some low-class apparitions his tricks . . . Some places have alarms for only middle-class demons and higher. Do the hauls ever include something like those imaginary pearls you mentioned?"

Botan sifted through folders in her bag. "Let's see. Lamota said only the items from the safe were stolen, which included some family jewels and the Mirror of G'darth. But the report says he and his wife had returned from an opera that night, and during the robbery, Mrs. Lamota's sapphire tiara lay on her dressing table, within sight of the criminals for certain."

"Then you have a fishing job on your hands. Or a cult."

Botan scratched "fishing" and "cult" onto her handheld notepad, then stood to close the door, just in case. Through the glass pane, she saw a teacher down the hall rounding up his detention attendees. He must have felt her eyes on him, so she hurried back to her table.

"Getting a bit paranoid, are we?" Kurama laughed.

Botan opened her mouth to respond, but the door burst open instead.

The teacher from detention leaned in and adjusted his glasses. "Minamino? What's a Sarayashiki girl doing in _our_ biology lab?"

"Mr. Shubinori," Kurama said with a respectful smile. "Botan is a good friend. Her parents asked that I tutor her for an upcoming project."

Shubinori nodded. "Very good, then. But if I have to use my key to open this door, you'll be in _my_ classroom after school. Got it?"

"Yes, sir," Botan and Kurama said as he left.

"Why on earth would we lock the door?" Botan asked.

"As far as they know," Kurama laughed, "we're hormonal teenagers."


	2. Chapter 2

"So it's a fishing job if the culprits are veterans . . . and if it's amateurs, it's a _cult_?"

Kurama chuckled. "For lack of a better word. The fishing job would have a collector of sorts hiring the culprits, if you will. If it's what we're calling a cult, it's a group dedicated to something they'd get from these artifacts." He smiled as Botan pouted.

"I need more paper. Big paper." She flipped her tiny notebook over to its front. "But I didn't bring any."

"Here." Kurama yanked his page of notes from its coil and held out the thick pad to her. "I'm done with my tests, anyway."

She argued a bit before graciously taking it. "I should copy these notes to the bigger paper, shouldn't I?"

He leaned over to look. "You _did_ write tiny."

"I was saving room. This'll take a few minutes."

"Take your time," he said as he hung up his lab coat. "I'll be right back." As he closed the lab door behind him, his three most dedicated stalkers stood before him with worried eyes.

"Suichi!"

"Uh . . . hello, ladies."

"Who's that? What's her name? What's she doing here?"

He wasn't sure who'd asked which question, so he looked at them all and said as little as possible in reply: "She's a good friend who needs some tutoring. That's all." He bypassed them and went around the corner to the vending machines. When he returned carrying two pretzel packs and lemonade cans, the girls seemed to stiffen.

"Are you sure she's only a friend?" asked Miki.

Kurama smiled and excused himself from their company.

"I hope you don't mind," he said to Botan after he'd closed the door again, "I was vague about the nature of our relationship with . . . what'd you call them? My fangirls?"

Botan waved him off without looking back at him, scribbling feverishly. "Whatever will keep you sane. You'd think they'd be used to you by now."

Kurama set her half of the snacks in front of her and leaned an arm on the cold, black tabletop. "They don't work with me, Botan. You've even seen my blood. To you and yours, I'm only an ex-con—an extra hand for the Spirit Detective's work."

Botan gave him a grumpy look. "And how do these followers of yours see you? I was never blind to you, Kurama, but there's a time and place for those things, and it's nowhere in my job description."

Kurama apologized with mirth in his eyes.

"Thanks for the snacks," Botan grumbled. She set down her pen and opened her pretzels.

"All caught up, then?" Kurama asked, and Botan nodded. "Good. Now, have there been any recent discharges or breakouts?"

"Discharges don't come until January," she said after a sip of lemonade. "But there was one breakout. Let me see . . . a fellow named Rushiyo."

Kurama suddenly looked serious. "Do you know his charges?"

Botan flipped a page in the file. "Just a small-time thug, really. He was arrested a while ago for two murders, but this time he was in for armed robbery. Oh, wow."

Kurama raised his eyebrows in question.

"Well," said Botan, "it looks like he tried to rob the Lamota estate a few months ago. How'd you know?"

"Just starting from somewhere. This doesn't mean he was there that night—he could have been paid for the Lamota house layout. That's how some people do things."

"But not you?"

He shook his head. "I relied on my own information. Fewer traces."

Botan watched him drink. "Do you miss it?"

"It began as a means to an end. The better I got, the bigger the end was supposed to be. I'm not ungrateful for the experience it gave me, but now, it seems the grandiose 'ends' were always . . . empty."

This made her eyes sting with a sob locked behind a smile. "I'm glad your mother showed you something more substantial than treasures," she said with a hand on his. They smiled at each other for a moment until Botan exclaimed at the time on Kurama's watch.

"Please, don't worry!" Kurama laughed. "I'm often here until seven."

"I can't believe that, Kurama. Not for a second."

Kurama smirked. "I'm not Yusuke."

He packed up the lab equipment, and she helped where she could.

"That wasn't the end of your questions," Kurama said as he slung his bag over his shoulder.

Botan's stomach rumbled, protesting the inadequate snack. "Looks like your kindness wasn't enough for my tummy."

"That's no problem," Kurama said. "We can get a couple of plates at my house and talk. No one would bother us on the porch."

As Kurama guided her out and through the halls with hand on her back, Botan noticed the trio of fangirls were very close behind them. She made sure, to Kurama's delight, to say loud enough for her words to echo in the deserted school, "I bet Mrs. Minamino is a _great_ cook."

#

"Your mother's very nice," Botan said as Kurama pulled out a patio chair from the table.

"She's always thrilled to meet a friend of mine. She's been less occupied with my social life since she married Mr. Hata—Kazuya. I know it concerns her when I don't do normal, high-school things." He sat beside her, his back to the kitchen window. "If she's watching us still, it means she really likes you."

Botan peeked over, met eyes with Shiori Minamino-Hatanaka, and giggled. "I like her, too."

"Then you'll have to stop by more often. If nothing else, to keep her from asking me what ever happened to you."

"Don't try to hide your adoration!" Botan laughed.

Kurama smiled as he ate, but silence settled between them. Botan found the little white lights wrapped up the umbrella pole pleasing, and the glow of it cocooned them both in the warmth of solitude. The garden, he told her, was actually tended by his mother and step-father, who liked to grow beautiful things together. "They liken it to raising Kokoda and me to be well-rounded _gentlemen._"

"That's very sweet! I'd love to have a garden someday. Genkai always tells me to work on hers, but I'm too afraid to touch anything on her property."

"Genkai loves you," Kurama said with a grin. "I stayed with her a weekend last month, and she only spoke of you. Well, you and Yusuke, but in very different ways."

"Poor Yusuke! They share a strange love, don't they?"

"Mm," Kurama said, tipping his cup of tea to his mouth. "I saw Kuwabara the other day."

"Oh? I ran into him last week but couldn't really stop to talk."

"It seems he's trying to round everyone up for his birthday party. He told me I could tell Hiei, but not to let him near his cat."

Botan snickered. "I forgot all about Eikitchi! That sounds fun. I think I'll go, invitation or not!"

"I'm sure he'd have you there before Hiei. I'll tell him I saw you. He'll probably ask me to deliver the details to you, once he decides them."

Botan began to say something but was interrupted by her Communication Mirror. "Oh, Koenma. Hi."

Kurama pretended not to hear the frantic squeaking coming from Koenma's end.

"_Have you gotten anything? You've been gone for hours! Ogre! Tell my father that Botan's getting spankings!"_

Botan put her hand over Koenma's face in miniature and smiled sheepishly at Kurama. "I think I have to go."

"It would look that way."

"_You listen to me when I yell at you, Botan! Get back here right now and tell me what you've learned! And make sure Kurama doesn't think we suspect him!"_

"Oh dear. Be there soon, Koenma, bye!" Botan hung up on him and hid her blush in her palm. "I'm so sorry about that, Kurama."

He only smiled. "Can I walk you out?"

Botan thanked him but said no, too embarrassed to remain in his company any longer than necessary. "I'll just go down the street and duck into an alley to leave. Thanks so much for your help, and I'll see you at the party!"

"I'm sure he'll send you back soon," Kurama said. "Then we can finish your notes."


	3. Chapter 3

The more he read of the contract, the more lined and troubled his face became. Botan scratched at her arm, wondering if she should pretend not to notice his mounting anger.

"I'm really sorry about this, Kurama," she murmured. "I begged Koenma not to draft this."

He set the contract on the bench between them, forgetting for a moment that he was supposed to be eating lunch like a normal student. "Did you read it?"

"I really didn't want to," Botan said. "How bad is it?"

"It states that my loyalty to Spirit World comes foremost, which is less than true."

"Oh, that's just legal babble!" Botan laughed. "Yusuke signed something like that with very little thought."

"There's more." Kurama glanced around, wary of eavesdroppers. His fangirls were sitting just out of earshot, but they seemed painfully focused on his body language. "Botan," he said. "Lean in."

Botan scooted over, taking the contract in her hands.

Kurama whispered his reservations. "It goes on to say that, should my loyalties be called into question, I waive my right to defend myself if they send the Spirit Defense Force after me."

"What?!" Botan realized she'd ruined the false mood they'd set. "Sorry!" she whispered without moving her lips.

"Koenma isn't this malicious," Kurama continued. "And that they include the clause naming the SDF as their agent instead of Yusuke is _more_ telling. In effect, I'm to sign away my rights. Even to privacy. Read here."

Botan read where he'd indicated; it said that Spirit World reserved the right to trail Kurama in all his dealings, naming the SDF's official number two, Shunjun, as the tracker. "So _that's_ what he was doing!"

Kurama put his arm on the bench behind Botan's shoulders and leaned down for her to whisper in his ear; Botan didn't know if he did that to send a message to the fangirls or to keep her from crying out again.

"Shunjun was signing something in Koenma's office when I came to pick this up," Botan said, indicating the stapled documents.

"Volunteering for the job, no doubt."

Botan nodded. "But that's a conflict of interest. You don't have to sign it at all!"

"He'll only send you back here. At most, they'll change the name from Shunjun to another. Do you have that pen?"

Botan handed it over with hesitation. "You aren't actually going to sign, are you?" She watched as he struck Shunjun's name and wrote hers above it. "Um, Kurama? I don't think that's legal . . . ."

"Do you have the date?"

"The twenty-third, why? _Kuram_—!"

He'd signed on the signature line, and with Botan's surprise, their cover was nearly shot. Kurama had to redeem their ruse before Botan finished speaking his true name, and so he stole the breath of her last syllable with a quick kiss.

"I had to. I'm sorry."

Botan looked at her knees and blushed, trying to pull the uniform skirt down longer than it could be, only faintly aware of a three-way groan somewhere behind their bench. "No, you had to. I know that. But why did you sign it?"

Kurama rolled up the contract and placed it in her hand. "I've taken a few precautions. If nothing else, it'll stall them." He stood, offering his hand. "If that's all, let me walk you off."

Botan stood, brow furrowed, and they walked in silence down the street and around a corner. "Here's fine," she murmured, ducking between a food truck and a trash bin.

"Before you go," Kurama said, pulling a folded scrap of paper from his pocket, "here's Kuwabara's invitation. He wanted me to give it to you."

Botan took the paper, glancing it over. "He has very neat handwriting. Didn't see _that_ coming."

"Neither did I," Kurama said with a smile. "He told me he'd really like for you to come."

"He singled _me_ out?" Botan put a finger on her chin, screwing up her face. "He hasn't done that since before he met Yukina."

"Do you remember the night he went to that rock concert?"

Of course she did. Kuwabara was attacked by Mitarai, and he'd carried him and the rest of his injured gang home on his back before passing out in front of the door. "What are you getting at, Kurama?"

"When we were erasing their memories of the ambush, do you remember what you said to the bald one?"

"Komada? No. Do you?"

Kurama chuckled. "I thought not. When he awoke, you said you liked Megallica too."

"So what?" Botan crossed her arms. "I've heard a few of their songs."

"Yes, and in saying as much, you made him into your own 'fangirl.'"

"Oh, no!" She smacked her forehead. "So he wants me there for Komada? This won't be good."

Kurama's smile suddenly left, his eyes suspicious as he looked back toward the school. "Quickly," he said to Botan, "you must go. We're being watched."

Botan turned into the restaurant, asking the hostess for a bathroom. "I'll just be a minute," she said to the girl. "Bye, Suichi!"

Kurama turned back to Meioh Academy and the girls watching him, smiling when Botan floated out of the restaurant roof and up to Spirit World. _That poor hostess_, Kurama thought with a laugh, anticipating the girl's confusion when she would find the ladies' room empty.

#

"And he signed it? Bring it here."

Botan approached with the rolled contract. "Well, he did, but he also scratched something out."

Koenma unfurled the pages and skimmed it, groaning.

"I told him I doubted it was legal, sir," Botan continued.

"No, Botan, that's not it." Koenma smacked the desk where Kurama's signature lay.

"Sir?"

Koenma pretended not to hear Jorge or Botan as he flew into a toddler-strength rage. "It was just supposed to be a token of good faith! Why didn't he sign it? I hate him!"

"No you don't, Koenma-sir!" said the ogre, folding his great, blue arms. "Stop speaking out of anger."

"But I can't help it! I'm just a baby after all! Argh!" Koenma's fit lost all sense, then.

Botan and Jorge shared a grimace. "I hate when he starts speaking in tongues," Botan whined. Suddenly she remembered. "But you know, sir," she said with impassioned conviction, "there was a part of that contract that contained a conflict of interest! Not to mention that it waives practically _all_ his rights, which frankly just isn't—well—_right_!"

Koenma calmed down. "No, Botan, it was only a test of his loyalty."

"But why, sir? He helped us with all that information when he didn't have to, and so what if his prediction was right? That's why we're asking _him_ and not Yusuke!"

"It's _suspicious_, Botan. And we can't buy his loyalties if his family isn't being threatened."

"We already had his loyalty, but now you've spoiled it with that stupid contract naming _Shunjun_! He's the one who _injured_ him all those years ago, sir. I told him not to sign it, but he didn't listen!"

Koenma pointed to the signature on the paper. "He's already one step ahead of us, Botan."

She leaned down and read "Suichi Minamino" in Kurama's writing. "What? But what does this mean, sir?"

"He's giving us permission to track only his human form."

Botan stood up again with a laugh. "I guess Kurama won, didn't he? Uh, no offense, Koenma. Will I'll be the one to trail him, then?"

The toddler stamped the contract, a red "Approved" sign appearing right in the midst of the contract's clauses, obscuring Kurama's note. "Well, since Shunjun never came into contact with Suichi Minamino, there _is_ no conflict of interest."

#

"Why the _hell_ would I want to celebrate the birth of that fool?"

"You don't have to be angry, Hiei," Kurama said, resting his chin on the back of his hand, elbow on the armrest. Hiei stood at the window, hiding his trembling fists in his pockets. "He only wanted me to assure you that you were welcome. You know that Yukina will be there."

Hiei scoffed. "Of course she will, but that's all the more reason for me to avoid it." He turned to the open window, crouching to leap away.

"And you trust the whims of Kuwabara and his friends once they've been drinking? Surely not." Kurama knew that would do it.

Hiei twitched. "He isn't my problem, but if he can't control himself around Yukina, then Kuwabara will lose an arm. Slowly."

With that, he left, the curtains snapping at the speed of his departure.

Kurama dialed a phone number, exchanged a few words with Shizuru, and said hello to Kuwabara. "I talked to Botan and Hiei today," he said, leaning back in his desk chair. "Yes, both of them. Though you'll need something strong for Hiei, I'm afraid."

#

**Thank you for reading and following! I can't wait for you all to see the next chapter. I've been trying to keep up with the reviews as they come in, but I'll be away for a few days to fix up Chapter Four.**

**So what will come of poor Komada's crush?**

**Why did Koenma refuse Kurama's request to change his tracker from Shunjun to Botan?**

**What did Kurama correctly predict would happen with the Red Glove Gang?**

**And finally, what will happen between Botan and Kurama at this party?**


	4. Chapter 4

Botan set the timer according to Keiko's written instructions. She now had forty-four minutes to—well, maybe not relax, but at least she didn't have to mix anything with flour again.

"How are those balloons coming, dear?" she called, wrapping the cord around the beater handle.

"Just fine," Yukina said brightly from the other room. "Kazuma will love them!"

"I think he'll be too thrilled with you being here to notice any of our efforts!" Botan said as Yukina appeared, looking hurt. Botan realized her mistake, grappling with her words to set it right.

"I think what she meant," said Kurama, entering with Hiei behind Genkai, "was that Kuwabara would be thrilled with even lackluster birthday decorations. Don't you think so, Hiei?"

Botan stifled a laugh by busying her mouth with a drop of cake batter. She watched Hiei with laughing eyes, and his only verbal response to Kurama was a grunt.

"Are you gonna clean all that crap?" Genkai said, noting the mess of the kitchen. "It was spotless before you got here."

"Oh, don't worry!" Botan said. "It'll sparkle even before the cake's done!"

Genkai sighed, pulling a Buddhist statue off a table. "It better not _sparkle_ if you know what's good for you. Set your coat on the bed, Kurama, if you won't help me move the valuables to the temple."

"I'll help you directly, Master Genkai," Kurama said, smirking at his fire-demon companion. "Hiei, you can help Yukina with these balloons."

"You can go to hell."

"Don't worry, Hiei!" said Yukina, offering him a balloon. "I'll show you how. It's fun!"

Hiei sulked for a moment, sneering at the preparations Botan and Yukina had made for Kuwabara's party. With Yukina's kind instructions, however, he quickly found a use for himself, though not without a few warning glares at the observant Botan.

Kurama returned for an urn, and Botan gestured him over. "I think you should have Hiei put his sword in a closet somewhere," she whispered. "He's fine now, but I don't want him to be armed when Kuwabara and his friends arrive."

#

Yusuke and Keiko arrived with Kuwabara and his gang, having met accidentally on the train.

"I tried to give him his present there," Yusuke told Kurama and anyone who had ears, "but he said it'd be rude to the rest of the guests. Who does that?"

"He was only being polite!" Botan pointed out.

"Yeah, but he doesn't know what I got him. It'd be way more polite for him to unwrap it in _private_."

Botan scoffed. "You're a pig."

"Don't worry," Keiko whispered. "He actually got him Goblin Empire."

"Oh? I didn't know Kuwabara even played the first one."

Keiko suddenly scowled. "Well I know Yusuke did, but I thought he might finally be doing something nice for Kuwabara!"

She forced a smile as Keiko left to yell at her boyfriend; Kurama took Keiko's place beside Botan.

"Komada intends to serenade you, I'm afraid," he mused, rocking the ice in his glass through its brandy.

Botan folded her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. "And how will he pull _that_ off?"

Kurama drank. "He and the others bought Kuwabara a karaoke stereo."

"Please tell me you're kidding." Botan followed Kurama's nod and saw Komada, who wore a Megallica shirt. "Oh, dear."

"You'll have to stall the presents," Kurama said. "Though if the cake isn't ready, you'll need another compelling distraction."

Botan scowled up at him. "You're enjoying this too much, you know that?"

"Sorry!" he laughed. "Should I make you a drink?"

"Goodness, no. I can't afford to lose any control. I can hardly be polite when I'm _sober_."

"I noticed."

Botan stuck out her tongue, then remembered his aid earlier. "So thank you," she said, having reminded him of his gallantry. "But you know something, Kurama? I think you're just as awkward as I am."

"Do you?"

"Yep. You just hide it behind polite smiles and silence."

Kurama considered her for a moment, his smirk opening to a chuckle. "I suppose it's evasive of me to point out that our friends from Mushiyori City are here."

Botan turned to the window behind her, catching Yanagisawa wave at her from across the yard. "At least you can admit it," she said to Kurama, who waved back with her. "Kido and the others are here!"

"Oh, awesome!" said Kuwabara.

"Oh, great," groaned Yusuke. "He better not tempt me. I still owe that punk an ass-kicking."

Genkai grumbled and sat at her table. "Someone make tea. Botan, you're in the kitchen."

"Huh? Hey! Kurama's in here too! Why don't you make him?"

"I don't care who makes it," Genkai barked.

"Blue hair, red hair," said Hiei. "What's the difference?"

"You know, Hiei, sometimes I sympathize with Kuwabara about you," Botan said, finding the kettle.

Kurama took it from her. "Let me."

Kido, Yana, and Kaito finally came inside, their cheeks reddened with exertion and cold.

"Those stairs are like a trial," Yana said. "I don't know how I always forget about them."

"Urameshi," Kido greeted with a handshake.

Yukina asked Keiko who the newcomers were while they introduced themselves to Kuwabara's gang. Kaitou adjusted his glasses and nodded once to Kurama. Once everyone had taken off their coats and settled in, Komada heaved a wrapped box to Kuwabara's side.

"Now that everyone's here," he said, looking for a moment at Botan, "we want you to open ours first."

"Well now, wait!" Botan rushed into the sitting area. "The cake isn't ready, and we can't do presents without cake. How about a game? I know a great one we could all play—"

"And why don't we make it even more fun?" said Kido, sliding a bottle of booze from his duffle bag.

Kurama set Genkai's tea before her and discreetly offered Botan a deck of cards from between two fingers.

"Alright," said Kuwabara, "but Kurama and Hiei can't play, 'cos they'd just clean me out."

Hiei stood with a sneer, following Keiko and Yukina into the kitchen as he replied, "I don't _do_ games, fool."

"That guy's creepy," Okubo said to Miyamoto, who nodded.

"I think he'd be glad to know it," Kurama laughed. "And if you don't want me to play, Kuwabara, I'll abide."

"No offense, Kurama, I just need to save for school."

"Looks like the girls are going to decorate the cake," said Botan. "I wonder if they need hel—"

"Don't be stupid!" said Yusuke, yanking her down between him and Komada. "They'll be fine. Now what are we playing?"

#

"Everyone got a glass?" said Kido, holding his own aloft. All around the table, Yusuke, Botan, Komada, Okubo, Miyamoto, and Kuwabara held theirs up in answer, Kurama drinking his brandy silently between Kuwabara and Kido. "Great! Happy birthday, Kuwabara. One, two, three!"

When Botan set down her glass, she nearly knocked over a full one. "Yusuke," she began, "are you . . . refusing alcohol for some reason?"

Kurama watched, hoping Yusuke wouldn't be angry that she'd pointed it out.

"Well yeah." Yusuke's eyes followed every card dealt. "You think I'm gonna let a bunch of drunk idiots win? Hell no, I'll have this in the bag!"

Botan smacked her forehead. "I thought you'd have a sweet, responsible reason, maybe about your mother. Why do I ever put any faith in you?"

Kurama chuckled, watching Botan and the young man beside her. "It's lucky Master Genkai left when she did," he said. "I don't think she would have allowed her apprentice to sidestep a challenge."

"Oh, yeah," said Yusuke, looking from side to side. "Where is the old bat?"

Leaning against the wall, Kaitou pressed his glasses up his nose. "I believe she and Yana are playing video games. If you'll excuse me."

As the card game began, Botan wondered aloud, "Why didn't Shizuru come?"

"I told her she could," said Kuwabara, sorting the cards in his hand. "She doesn't like mountain air, though, 'cos she's a smoker."

"Can you picture your sister going up those stairs?" laughed Yusuke. "She'd probably suffocate!"

"I keep telling her to quit," Kuwabara replied gravely. "But anyway, she knows when I talk about her, so let's change the subject."

Kurama drained his glass and set it beside Botan's empty shot. "I thought you weren't drinking tonight."

"Well, I didn't say . . . or, I did, but . . . in this context, it'll do the trick!"

Kurama smiled, taking Kido's bottle and refilling the table's glasses.

Miyamoto raised, and Kuwabara groaned. "Come on, man, it's my birthday!"

Kido folded, Yusuke cursed, and Botan yelped, "I thought we were playing Go Fish!"

#

All Botan had were fives; she didn't know if it was the effect of four shots or the looming decision as those around the table called or folded . . . then her eyes fell on Kurama, who must have been watching her for a long time. She looked down at her cards, but she felt his eyes on her still. When she looked up again, he winked at her.

It was her turn, now. Botan gave a weak raise, to Kurama's smile. Yusuke choked on his shot and coughed until he was somehow angrier. Komada, who'd led the most ambitious assault on Miyamoto's pile of winnings, copied Botan. Okubo was out, and Miyamoto clung to his pride.

Botan watched Kurama's expression change as each player made a call, and when her turn came again, Kurama crossed his arms and leaned back, as if cocky.

So she raised.

Komada looked impressed and struggled with his call. He folded, however, which led to Miyamoto.

"I think you're bluffing," he said to Botan, leaning forward with a grin.

"I don't know, man," said Kuwabara as Botan hid her cards from Yusuke's eyes with a growl.

Botan hiccupped. "If I'm bluffing, raise."

Yusuke laughed, Komada snorted, and Kurama smiled, locking eyes with her long enough for Komada to notice.

Miyamoto squinted, but he decided to fold, to Botan's delight. Kurama stood to refill his brandy.

#

He found Hiei in the kitchen watching Yukina, who stirred coloring into a bowl of frosting. Keiko was piping some yellow frosting along the cake's edges, so intent on her work that she seemed alone.

"Why do you sit out there?" said Hiei. "If you can't take their money, what's the point?"

Kurama refilled his glass. "It's actually fun, Hiei. Almost as fun as watching these two."

"Hn."

"Yes, I thought so." Kurama's eyes danced with mirth.

Keiko bagged Yukina's frosting and showed her how to hold her hands to pipe.

"Are you sure, Keiko?" asked the ice apparition. "I'm not very good at this."

"But it'll mean more to him if _you_ write it," Keiko said brightly.

As Yukina worked on a birthday message on the cake's surface, Kurama complimented Keiko's strength in delegation.

"Oh, I can't take credit," said Keiko. "I couldn't be up here all day baking, so Botan really helped me out. And with Yukina helping decorate it, well . . . it took a lot of pressure off."

"Are you some kind of cook?" Hiei asked a bit gruffly.

"Uh, mhmm. My parents run a noodle shop, and I like to offer desserts when I can."

"Kuwabara told me on a few occasions that he wanted a Keiko Yukimura cake."

She grinned. "While it's still _Yukimura_."

"Right," smiled Yukina. "Uh, how does this look?"

"Oh, wow," Keiko said, blinking. "_Professional_."

"Is it time, then?" Kurama asked.

Yukina looked up at him. "We still need candles." Hiei moved so fast, it was as if the little pack fell from the ceiling. "Thank you, Hiei!"

"Yeah," said Keiko suspiciously, "thanks."

"Were you holding those all this time, Hiei?"

"Shut your mouth, Kurama."

Yukina finished placing the candles, and Keiko asked if anyone had a lighter. Hiei grinned, and out in the sitting area, Kuwabara got a tickle feeling.

#

**How was it? I hope you don't mind the absence of plot in this chapter; there just weren't enough filler episodes in Yu Yu Hakusho for my taste. I wanted to see them more at home and less in the Dark Tournament. I guess I was indulging myself a bit here. Sorry!**

**I originally wrote this as one huge chapter, but it was almost four times the size of previous chapters, so I cut it in thirds. The next chapter will have the karaoke (prepare yourself), Kurama-Botan drama, and the presents! I personally am so excited for you all to see Yukina in the next chapter. She's so underutilized in the show, don't you think? Friggin' adorbs.**

**Looks like Yusuke knows about Komada's crush, eh? I imagine Kuwabara told him about it, and he laughed until he collapsed a lung.**

**I think Keiko probably liked to cook when Yusuke was in Demon World with Raizen; it'd bring her closer to him. So naturally, she's become a bit of a pro, even if she's baking, here.**

**So after that card game, how do you think Botan will thank Kurama for helping her win?**


	5. Chapter 5

Yukina led the birthday song, and Botan hoped everyone would let her sing alone, but Yusuke drunkenly chimed in, followed by Kuwabara's gang and, finally, Keiko. Yanagisawa, Kaito, and Genkai came in from their game, but only Yana sang; Kido was sprawled on the floor, unconscious.

"Happy birthday, you punk!" Yusuke yelled at song's end.

Kuwabara's grin matched his happy tears, and he looked into Yukina's eyes, glowing above the flicker of candlelight. "You look so pretty, baby," he said before making a wish and inhaling—

The flames on the candles died before Kuwabara could exhale. He passed his breath out through his lips like a deflating balloon. "Hey, what gives?"

The candles bloomed with light of their own accord, and Kuwabara inhaled only for the flames to curl into nothing again.

"What the heck?!"

"Whoa, ever see trick candles do that?"

Botan looked at Kurama, who was smirking at Hiei, who met eyes with an infuriated Keiko. Suddenly, almost scoffing to life, the flames behaved, just as Kuwabara tried to trick them with his breath: he'd inhaled as great as before, but passed the air out of his nose to fool everyone; when he saw the flames flicker at his secret exhalation, he gasped, and choked, and fell over, coughing.

Yusuke couldn't breathe, he laughed so hard; Botan guiltily wiped a tear from her eye, and Kurama covered his mouth and turned away. Only Yukina seemed concerned; Keiko just looked mad.

"Hn. Even if I do nothing, he doesn't have the brains to blow them out."

Kuwabara bared his teeth at Hiei. "This was you? I'll get you, you little—"

"Blow them out!" Keiko spat, worry creasing her brow. "The frosting can't just sit under the heat!"

When Kuwabara successfully conquered the candles, Keiko doled out slice after slice of homemade birthday cake, everyone offering up their compliments to her.

"Hey, Botan," whispered Komada, indicating the cake on his plate, "I know you helped bake it. I just wanted to say, you did a great job."

Botan chewed, brushing off his compliment before she could explain. "It was really Keiko. I only followed her directions. She was very specific."

Kurama watched their exchange with mischief. "Kuwabara, will you be opening presents now?"

Botan tensed.

"Yeah, that sounds good. Whadja get me?"

Suddenly the stereo was unwrapped and Kuwabara was shouting with glee, hugging Okubo, Miyamoto, and Komada at once.

"That's not all," said Miyamoto as Komada pointed to the back of the box.

"We got the souped-up karaoke attachments!"

"Oh no way, heh heh!" Kuwabara materialized a CD from—well, Botan was sure it came from the fiery pits of Limbo. "Now we can do Megallica whenever we want!"

"Right!" said Okubo. "I'll get this hooked up."

Botan panicked. "Yusuke, where's your gift? I bet Kuwabara will love it!"

"Huh? Oh, it's here somewhere." He looked around, sluggish with alcohol. "Hey, Kurama, can I get one of those?"

Kurama curiously pointed to his brandy, and Yusuke nodded.

"Hurry up, Yusuke!" Botan cried, desperate that her window to distract Kuwabara from karaoke was closing.

Kurama chuckled, withdrawing an envelope from his pocket. "Here," he said to Kuwabara. "It's nothing special, I'm afraid."

Kuwabara ripped it open and grinned like a fool. "Oh, nice! A certificate for the fancy pet store! I'm gonna get Eikichi gourmet food for weeks. Thanks!"

"Glad you like it," said Kurama brightly.

Genkai stepped forward with an antique book. "I know you kids don't read these days, but I thought you'd like this one."

Kuwabara seemed to take on a serious air, thanking her with a quiet reverence.

"It's a book of meditations," Genkai continued. "It's sorted by subject, so when you're nervous, just go to the middle section. It's helped me through a lot of sales pitches. Why they'd ever come all the way up to my door is beyond me."

"Oh, here it is!" Yusuke laughed. "I was sitting on it!"

"Tch! Figures, Urameshi doesn't care enough about my birthday present to not crush it with his butt."

"Hey, just take the damn thing and say thank you." He handed him the bag of colored tissue paper and turned to Genkai. "Hey, Grandma, shouldn't you be giving me those meditation books? I'm the one with the Spirit Wave, ya know."

"And you can honestly say you'd read the damn thing?"

"Well, I'd get the Cliff Notes or something."

"That's an ancient text, dimwit!"

"What! So is Shakespeare, Grandma, ever heard of him?"

Keiko rolled her eyes, and Kurama laughed.

"Alright, Urameshi! Goblin Empire!"

"We should play it!" Botan shouted.

"Jeez, hang on, Botan," said Kuwabara.

"Yes," said Kurama, "Yukina hasn't given her gift yet. And neither have you."

"Oh, right. Heh."

"You didn't have to get me anything, Yukina. Our love is enough, and it always will be!"

Miyamoto gagged, and Hiei swept from the room, calling out to Kurama to wake him if Kuwabara choked on his cake.

"Botan helped me with it," Yukina said, producing a box no bigger than Puu's smaller form. "It's for keeping your memories."

Kuwabara unwrapped a camera and exclaimed, hugging Yukina as delicately as he could. "I love it, baby!"

"Oh, and mine goes with it," Botan said, wading through her drunk friends to hand Kuwabara a pink-wrapped parcel.

"Gross, what's with the girly wrapping pap—oh, awesome, a picture album!"

"And there are some in there already," Yukina said. "Remember when I took your picture, Kazuma? With Yusuke and Botan and all your detective friends?"

"You guys, this is great," Kuwabara said. "Thanks a lot."

"The three of us went in on a bottle of Ogre Killer together," Kaitou said, eyeing the fallen Kido. "Though it looks like it was already used."

"Haha, yeah, man. No worries!" Kuwabara put his arm over Kaitou's and Yana's shoulders. "I'm glad you guys came! We haven't seen you in so long."

"If you're done playing Huggy Time," Genkai said, eyeing Kuwabara, "I'd like to open that Goblin City sequel."

"Go for it, Genkai!" Kuwabara turned to Okubo and the stereo. "I'm gonna get started on a little something for my lady. And it's gonna _rock_."

Botan helped Yukina open the camera and set it up. "Now, point it there."

The camera screeched, capturing Yusuke getting slapped for touching Keiko's bottom.

"Hey! That's not polite!" Yusuke yelled. Then he leaned in to whisper to Yukina. "But I'd like a copy of that, if that's okay."

Yukina nodded, then went off to snap a picture of her sleeping brother.

"I'm afraid you've just unleashed a monster."

Botan didn't have to turn to know it was Kurama. "Pretty good for a girl who said it captures your soul, huh?"

"Of course." He took a sip. "Looks like they're ready to sing to you, there."

Botan peeked into Kurama's glass. "What's in that? Can I have some? Or a lot? Thanks." She took a deep swig, surprising herself when it didn't overpower her.

"You could just watch Genkai play Goblins."

"I should do that, shouldn't I?"

Kurama picked up the meditations book and followed Botan to the floor sofa.

Genkai started Goblin Empire and handed the controllers to Kaitou and Yanagisawa. "I play winner."

Yukina got a picture of Yana gaping at the screen as Kaitou smiled, a picture of Botan's head falling onto Kurama's shoulder as he read, a picture of Yusuke laughing at Kuwabara getting shocked by his microphone, and a picture of Keiko on the floor, flipping through the photo album.

Botan jolted awake when the stereo roared to life and Kuwabara's voice shook the foundation of the estate: "Are you ready to _rock_?"

"What on _earth_?" She looked up at Kurama, who placed his finger in the book and met her eyes.

"Seems you woke up on time."

Botan groaned into his shoulder. "Kill me?"

"Sorry." He opened the book again, picking up in the middle where he'd left off.

Botan saw Hiei stand from his spot in the corner and draw his cloak over himself again. He crossed into the other room, where Kuwabara, Yukina, and his gang were all cheering his rendition of Megallica's greatest hit.

"Hey, where are you going?" Kuwabara interrupted his own song as Hiei slid open the shoji, admitting howling winter wind. "It's like twelve degrees out there!"

"I much prefer the chill to whatever this is. You're worse than that infernal Whistle."

"Poor Kuwabara. Oh, dear." Botan smiled at Komada, who gestured her over.

Kurama stole a sidelong glance at Botan. "We could escape somewhere to discuss a few things. Besides, you're not indebted to him."

"Am I indebted to someone?"

He still seemed to be reading as he said, "You _were_ going to fold that winning hand."

"Yes, but now Komada keeps congratulating me on a game well played."

"Yet if you concede, he'll believe you're interested in him as well. It would do the thievery case good if you and I stole away to an empty room, pardon the pun."

She put a hand to her head. "I don't know if I'm up for all that, Kurama. And I don't want to be mean." She stood, and for a moment, she thought he was following her, but he left just as Hiei had, the book forgotten on his seat. She sat next to Yukina, smiling politely as Komada took the microphone from Kuwabara.

#

"I don't think the wall is what you're truly angry about."

Kurama watched little globules of blood appear on his knuckles in the light of the moon. "Not now, Hiei."

"Don't tell me that fool had any effect on you, with your manners and smiles." Hiei hopped down from the roof and leaned beside the mark Kurama's fist had made in the wall.

"I'm losing control," Kurama said finally.

"It's time you sought a real woman, Kurama. Not one of those _humans_," he spat.

"I don't call for them."

"So who was it? The detective's assistant? Yes, there was a time when I would've taken her, but she never stops talking. When she opens her mouth, I just want to ram my sword through it. The real one."

Kurama slammed Hiei's head against the wall.

Hiei scoffed, a grin forming. "Yes, I figured it was her. Forgive me. You were less than forthcoming."

"That was a cheap way to find out," said Kurama, releasing him.

"You would have seen through it if you liked her less." Hiei righted his cloak. "You came to this wretched world eighteen years ago. Naturally you're losing your grip—you know what you're _missing_."

Kurama leaned over a stone birdbath, grasping the edges and watching the clouds reflected in the ice. "My efforts have been ineffective, and I can't win her without my control. Yet I dare not take a woman who is nothing to me to regain it. Doing so would degrade my devotion to Botan, and I would lose her."

"Perhaps it's not my business, and I do hope it isn't, but she seemed to cling to you all night. And now, in the midst of all that mind-piercing noise, she's fidgeting around, turning repeatedly to the door. Trust me." His Jagan Eye glowed behind its band.

Kurama offered a small smile of gratitude. "Yukina is glad you came," he said, and Hiei scoffed and leapt away, cursing Kurama's renewed control.

#

**Alrighty! The next chapter will have more discussion about the stupidly named Red Glove Gang, more Botan-Kurama goodness, and even more Keiko cooking! I know that's why you're all following; you just want some of those recipes.**

**I know the correct brand is "CliffsNotes," but I really didn't like the sound of Yusuke saying it correctly. That's just not him!**


	6. Chapter 6

Botan wrapped the blanket tighter around her shoulders, squinting at the brightening morning. She wished she'd brought gloves with her out to the veranda, but it would make flipping the file pages more difficult. Though her fingers would be warm, which would make it easier, too.

She let her head fall back against the column.

She still had to break the news to Kurama about Shunjun and the non-conflicting clause. Koenma would never have drafted the contract without Shunjun's influence; Kurama was the SDF officer's claim to fame, and he obviously had grand schemes about finishing the fox demon once and for all, solidifying his place in the nightmares of apparitions everywhere.

When the Red Glove Gang had taken the Mirror of G'Darth, Kurama warned her: "If they go after the Katsuryoku Pendant, they aim to complete the Bandit's Three."

The Spirit World ambassadors, he'd told her, were ignorant of the Demon World legends surrounding such items. The Mirror allowed one to see through walls, similar to the Spirit Detective Spyglass; with it, the Pendant allowed the user to measure the level of strength in the auras of surrounding apparitions. Eons ago, the items were separated and sent to Spirit World figureheads to make them feel important. When apart, the items were useless, dropping rank from _artifact_ to simply _art_. Kurama was worried that Spirit World had never known the powers of the Bandit's Three, and if they had, they certainly thought too little of the demons who craved those powers.

Kurama was the only thief to ever come close to obtaining such an artifact; the Band of Shadows was reported stolen, but it was retrieved when Kurama fled, having been injured by the ambassador's chief of security, Shunjun. Perhaps, once Kurama was out of the way and Shunjun was offered a position with the SDF, Spirit World wanted to revel in their victory. Perhaps they reveled too long.

"I wasn't aware anyone else was up."

"Good morning to you, too," said Botan, turning to the garden, where Kurama stood with a steaming mug.

He leaned a shoulder against her post. "Do you have a headache? Light sensitivity?"

"A little," she confessed. "What's in the cup?"

Kurama chuckled, offering it up to her. "You asked me that last night you know, and it led to your current discomfort."

Botan drank, then looked at the tea strangely. "What sort of blend is _this_?"

"It is awful, I admit. It's my own concoction, a sort of hangover cure."

"So you drank too much last night too?"

Kurama smiled, taking the mug back. "I can't always control myself."

"At least you're in a better mood."

"I am. What are you working on?"

Botan offered up the folder. "Just wondering what they might be after. You told me that these were a thief's perfect tools. They just seem way too organized. They must have a greater goal."

"You're very astute to have caught that."

Botan smiled up at him and took the mug he pressed into her hands. "What do you think it is?"

"There's no telling." He flipped the page over. "We need them to succeed at their ultimate plan for us to find out."

"But you said they'd probably want the Band of Shadows, right?"

He nodded.

"So why can't we just wait for them to go for that? Wait for them there?"

"I'd have to revert to my demon form to avoid being tracked by the Hunter, and mine is a face not easily forgotten by . . . security guards."

"It's cold out here," Botan sighed, fiddling with some of Kurama's split ends that hung beside her face. Then her eyes lit up. "Kurama, what if you went as _you_—in your human form—to defend the Band against the thieves?"

He turned to her, his mind buzzing at her idea, his pulse racing at her touch. "That might force me to trap a former ally. I'm not eager to make new enemies of old friends."

Botan scoffed, blowing a hair out of her face. "Who the blazes do you work for? Do you _miss_ that life or something?"

Kurama tucked the wayward strand behind her ear and slid his fingers down to her chin, brushing her lips with his thumb and tilting her face up to meet his. "Are you afraid of losing me?"

Botan opened her mouth to object, but he must have confused it for welcome and took it.

_Click!_

Yukina stood at the open shoji, smiling with Kuwabara's camera when Kurama and Botan parted. "Keiko's making breakfast for everyone. Oh, almost out of film."

Once the shoji slid shut again, Botan stood, dropping her files. "I think I'm going inside now."

Kurama caught a rogue floating paper. "Botan?"

She balled her hands into fists, trying to not look at him. "There aren't any fangirls to trick here, Kurama." And she was bubbly again, separating herself from him with the shoji and her aloofness.

#

Botan truly could not believe her luck. When she'd told herself that Shunjun was probably on Kurama's case, Koenma called her in to dispatch her to Living World to summon him.

"This requires delicacy that an officer of Spirit World law cannot handle," he'd told her. "We can't have anyone making a scene."

There was no sense in arguing; Koenma could not send a warrior to do a woman's job.

Botan slipped into the school and out to the quad, catching Kurama eating lunch at his usual bench and reading a paperback copy of Kuwabara's book of meditations.

"Afternoon," he said, reading the end of a sentence before looking up.

Botan was not expecting him to be civil; she had ignored him for days, even blasted his character with Jorge the Ogre while they ate ice cream. She knew he was angry with her when she'd deserted him on Genkai's veranda because he had left directly afterward. When Shunjun's report from the Doriyushto Embassy fiasco came in, she'd simply set it on Kurama's bed while he was at school. They hadn't yet discussed the Band of Shadows, Rushiyo's recapture, or their kiss. Now that he greeted her as politely as usual, a page fell out of their past and drifted off to dissolve in words they couldn't say.

"Afternoon? What do you mean by that!" She had to rein in her anger; the surrounding students had paused to watch her scream at her supposed boyfriend. _So much for not making a scene. _"Oops . . . do you care if we maybe talk in private somewhere?"

Kurama glanced around as if bored. "Here's fine."

"Oh." Botan became aware that she was standing, and Kurama had neither invited her to sit nor made space for her on the bench. She wrung her sweating hands, then put them awkwardly at her sides.

"It appears something is bothering you."

Botan's brow twitched. _Well of course!_ she thought. _And you can tell, can't you?_ "It's just that . . . here." She lifted her bag from her shoulder and produced six photocopies of local newspapers, leaning down to whisper. "There's been a break-in every day this week in _your_ area. Jewelry stores, pawn shops, and one antiques gallery! Do you think it's funny to steal? _Especially_ right now. I can't believe our smartest teammate could do something so stupid!"

Kurama closed his book and regarded her for so long, their student-body audience began to gossip: _"Is Minamino single now? What's with his girl's blue hair?"_

"You've been avoiding me," Kurama said. "Why?"

Botan sputtered, unintentionally touching her fingers to her lips. "That's not important right now! And you know something, buster? Shunjun was assigned to you, anyway. Case closed."

"You knew that _before_ the party, though you brought the case files with you then." Kurama crossed his arms. "You weren't ready to give your role to the Hunter. You were at first sorry that the contract was drafted, but I think you're relieved, now." Kurama watched the wind pick up her hair as the bell rang for class. The quad emptied until he and Botan were alone but for the uninterested stragglers.

"Of course I don't like the contract!" Botan finally shrieked. "Does this even matter right now? We have an actual _problem_ here. You've made yourself into a _suspect_!"

"Have I been anything but compliant with Koenma's rules? I've called for you ever since you left the report in my room. It was necessary that we speak."

"There was a _note_," Botan said through gritted teeth, "that said to just _come_ _to_ _Spirit_ _World_. Koenma's been asking me where you are! And now you're showing him that you are just as much of a thief as the demons we're tracking!"

Kurama stacked the newspaper stories evenly and held them out to her. "I will not be called to Spirit World until you see that I have nothing to hide. Follow me."

#

They idly greeted the saleswoman as they pretended to browse the jewelry cases. He'd told Botan to look at the clock face; she assumed he meant the grandfather clock and not the digital one above the office door. She ambled toward it as inconspicuously as she could, but the saleswoman was not keen on letting them escape her pitch.

"What can I interest you in today? We have the city's widest selection of engagement rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings. And perhaps for you, sir, our watches are quite popular with the college gentlemen."

Botan turned on the woman. "We're only seventeen!" She tried to look innocent as she said it, and Kurama was determined to make her uncomfortable; he was leaning over a case, looking interested in the merchandise. "Don't you dare, Kur—Suichi."

"What do you have in the way of twenty-four-karat apologies?" he asked with wry smile.

Botan rolled her eyes and continued toward the clock as the saleswoman fumbled with Kurama's question.

"Well, let me direct you to our corner cabinet, where we hold the more _affordable_ pieces."

Botan tried to hold in her laugh, but it came out as a snort just as she caught sight of something shimmering in the clock face. There it was, obvious if you bothered to look at it—the stolen ring, hanging off the nub that centered the clock's hands.

"Alright, Suichi," said Botan, turning away from the ring in the clock. "We can go, now."

"Then you'll accept my apology?"

Botan blinked. "When you apologize, then _maybe_."

The saleswoman feigned empathy, just in case they did decide to buy something. "Nothing says 'I love you' like a diamond, Suichi!"

Kurama smiled at the woman. "Sorry for wasting your time."

"Thank you, ma'am!" Botan said as they left, and the door swung shut behind them.

When they had walked a little way and Botan pushed the pedestrian signal at the traffic light, she turned a sour face on Kurama. "Why would you make anyone think you were stealing?"

Kurama led her across the street. "You wouldn't return my calls."

Botan turned her face to his, trying to decipher him as they walked.

"Shunjun's report mentioned the recapture of Rushiyo," Kurama continued.

"Yes, right in the gallery of Doriyushto Embassy. He was even _wearing_ the Band of Shadows!"

Kurama paused, and Botan walked a few steps before realizing he was not beside her.

"Tell me," he began, slipping under a scaffold and out of the foot traffic, "what do you know of the Band?"

"Only what I learned from you," she said. "That it's part of the Bandit's Three, that you really wanted it at one time, and well . . . that it goes on the head."

"Let me correct you. I wanted it out of the hands of Spirit World. Such a power must not be kept by those unworthy of it. Even I never used it, after the initial test."

"What are you saying? Spirit World isn't worthy of its own artifact?"

"I am uneasy that the Band be in anyone's hands but my own."

"But why?" Botan checked over her shoulder, having felt the eyes of passersby. "Why is it so special? You know we _still_ don't have the Mirror or Pendant, right?"

"The Band of Shadows was never part of the Mirror of G'Darth or the Katsuryoku Pendant. It functions without them, and only after the legends surrounding it were verified did it rise to infamy as the greatest of the Bandit's Three."

"Well thank goodness we caught Rushiyo when we did!" Botan clapped. "Spirit World has the most powerful item of the three. And it's all thanks to your brilliant brain!"

"You're wrong," Kurama said gravely. "If the report that Rushiyo was wearing the Band of Shadows is accurate, then I'm afraid these thieves have each of the Bandit's Three."

Botan flinched, then put a finger to her chin. "How can that be? We have it in custody! I saw it myself, Kurama."

"What you saw," he whispered, "was a fake."

#

**What'd you think? Rather, what do you think Kurama's thinking, planting a smooch on an unsuspecting lady? That's just rude. Botan is very professional, y'know.**

**Do you have any questions? Is the plot confusing? Do you hate me? I won't care if you hate me, I guess. However, I will address any plotholes or inconsistencies as soon as I'm able. Maybe there aren't any plotholes or inconsistencies, but I feel like I'm forgetting something as I post this. It's maddening.**

**Anywho, as always, thank you so much for reading, and thank you to those who take the time to review, and a BIG thank you to those who review with every section I upload. You're all too sweet! I am unworthy.**


	7. Chapter 7

"It is imperative that I speak to this Rushiyo alone."

"I don't think so!" Botan emphasized each word with a step and held up her clipboard. "I know there's more to this story than you're telling me. I'm taking notes, Kurama. You'll just have to deal with it."

Kurama paused before the dungeon telecom. "Please, reconsider. There's no telling which of my former colleagues he's in league with. Our meeting may be uncivil."

Botan lost all patience and smacked the buzzer with the clipboard. "Botan here, with Kurama. Let us in, would you?" As the doors slid open, she glanced over at him. "The more you try sending me away, the less I believe what you say."

At first, Kurama was silent; at the request of the gatekeeper, he withdrew his rose from his hair and grunted—he pressed his fingertip with his thumb, growing a drop of blood.

"What's the matter?" Botan stood on her toes to see.

"Thorns," he said, and after they received visiting passes from the gatekeeper, he resumed his sacking of Botan's nerves. "You say you doubt me. How can you question my loyalties after all I've done for your realm?"

"You're too secretive, Kurama!" Every cell they passed held a prisoner who hooted at Botan.

"Have I not answered your questions?" Kurama asked.

"You won't tell me any more about your involvement with the Band of Shadows, and if you give me probable cause, you bet I'll report straight to Koenma!"

"Quiet," Kurama snapped as they approached the cell holding Rushiyo. Botan stuck her tongue out at Kurama, but he ignored her and pulled a chair in front of the cell's force-field. "Rushiyo," he called to the demon inside.

From his cot, the jackal sat up, elbows on his knees. He turned to his visitors with a smile. "Lovers' quarrel?"

"What? Of course not! You'd better hold your tongue, mist—"

Kurama took hold of her wrist and met her eyes. "Please be quiet until you have returned to your room."

Botan closed her mouth more out of curiosity than a desire to comply, for as he'd spoken, he'd slipped a note into her hand, obscured by the length of her kimono sleeve. She realized he was asking her to trust him and to make no reaction to his sleight of hand; she clicked her pen and leaned against the wall behind Kurama's chair, hoping she was successful.

"You know why we're here, Rushiyo," Kurama began. "Let it be known that the more information you offer, the lighter your sentence will be."

"Nice to finally meet you, Yoko." Rushiyo rolled a magazine in his hands and nodded at Botan. "She could be a centerfold, you know it? You have great taste."

The cells adjacent erupted with laughter and catcalls; the ogre at the gate rattled the red bars of energy with a tasing rod, but the quieting effect on the prisoners was only temporary.

"Bold," Kurama said of Rushiyo's remarks. "Tell me how someone shrewd enough to recognize his own vulnerability speaks with your foolishness."

Rushiyo grinned. "Get to the point. Ask me why I stole it."

Botan scribbled to keep up, but Kurama paused long enough for her to get current.

"I know your reason," he said, and somewhere in his words hid a lie.

Rushiyo must have sensed it, too. "You don't say. Forgive me, Yoko, but I don't believe that. You don't know anything about what I've been doing."

Kurama cut him off. "My only question concerns your motivation for getting involved. Why would a thief of your caliber sacrifice his freedom only to send me a message?"

"My _caliber_? You're trying too hard, Yoko. Flattery won't work."

"Wait," said Botan, her hand on Kurama's shoulder. "What are you talking about, send you a message?"

Rushiyo's eyes lit up. "She doesn't know? You're more like the stories than I thought you'd be."

"Rushiyo _intended_ to be caught," Kurama told Botan, who'd stopped writing. "The Band of Shadows masks the wearer's Spirit Energy, muffles their steps, and renders them completely invisible."

"That can't be right," Botan said, her pen stabbing in Rushiyo's direction. "Obviously not! He was wearing it when he was caught, Kurama. I verified it myself."

Kurama crossed his arms. "It is no accident that Rushiyo stands before us now. He knew that he would be caught, because the Band of Shadows that we have in the Evidence Room—"

"Yes, you already told me," said Botan, waving him off. "It's a fake, right? Then who has the real one?"

Rushiyo's smile dried Botan's heart. "My sister."

She didn't miss Kurama's gasp, though he remained seated and calm. "Who's his sister?"

"Meinuko," Kurama said without looking at her. "My bride."

#

Botan just wanted to take a shower. She felt completely filthy after being in the dungeons for so long, and even if the most disgusting thing about the place was the language of its inmates, she knew bathing would clear her mind.

Kurama had told her to go on ahead and report to Koenma while he remained with Rushiyo, hoping to cross-examine him. "You can watch on the screen," he'd said, having walked her out of the dungeon. "If you think I'm up to something."

Koenma broke her out of her thoughts. "His _bride_, you say?"

"Yes, sir," Botan replied automatically, not looking Koenma in the eyes.

"Well, that does make sense." Koenma rubbed his chin. "Until Rushiyo escaped a few weeks back, the only demon to ever successfully break out of Spirit World prison was Kurama, fifty years ago."

Botan gasped. "Well I never knew that."

"You never needed to." Koenma hopped off his chair and sealed his office door. "Believe me when I say this, Botan. We are not happy to hover over Kurama like this. But with this enlightening connection to Rushiyo, we can't be too careful with Kurama's case. Because of his VIP status in the Spirit Detective Department, he has access to security levels no former felon ever should have. We cannot simply cut his access, either. Doing so would shake his faith in us."

Botan remembered the note Kurama had passed to her, and almost brought it up; however, Koenma's worried expression and Kurama's hint to open the message only when in her room made her keep it a secret for the time being. "Yes, sir."

"Kurama must have shared the method to escaping our dungeons with Meinuko, who then shared it with her brother. Yes, that's perfectly sensible. Only I hope they don't tell anyone else. And how will we keep Rushiyo from escaping _this_ time?" Koenma resumed his seat at the desk and put his cheek in his palm. "I need a vacation."

Botan stopped herself from saying "Yes, sir," again, choosing instead to smile sheepishly.

"Why are you being such a basket case?" Koenma shot her a look. "Don't be surprised that Kurama had a wife. It's not the same as being married here or on Earth, I promise you that."

"It isn't?"

"Of course not! Demon World isn't that formal. _Wife_ isn't even the right word. They probably spent a lot of time together as thieves. It's only natural that two people become more than coworkers." Koenma startled himself with his words. "Not that I want anything more from my coworkers! You're all my subordinates, anyway, and that would look bad."

Botan laughed. "Don't worry, Koenma! I only strive to be a professional."

"Yes, I noticed that last week." Koenma's face broke into an impish grin. "You sure didn't like when Kurama kissed you, huh? _Ha ha!_"

Botan went pale just before Kurama requested entry. Koenma buzzed him in and dismissed her.

"Lucky you left when you did," Kurama said with a polite smile at her. "Writing is difficult after 'lights out.'"

Botan nodded with an expression of confusion; that was a weird way for him to put it, but Kurama was not his normal self around people from his former life. "I'll see you around, Kurama."

As she left, she heard him ask Koenma about the Evidence Room just as the doors slid together, silencing any further talk.

The note nearly burned a hole in her sleeve; yet she could not account for why she was excited to read it. Perhaps it was a follow-up to the kiss he'd planted on her last week . . . or maybe it was his apology.

_What if it's a love letter?_ asked the part of her that she hated most. It couldn't be anything of the sort; Kurama evidently had someone already.

_Meinuko_ . . . _What a stupid name,_ she thought, then smiled; Kurama had said the same thing about Meinuko's thieves, the Red Glove Gang. Their first day together at his school seemed like too long ago, now. He was only a teenager there, a biology student and a model son to Shiori. Here, now, he was a married man, though he'd been so before he was even born to Shiori. Eighteen years without his bride . . . he could have _kids_ for all she knew!

As Botan unlocked her room door, she tried to conceptualize Kurama's hypothetical offspring; would they look like Kurama's demon form, with silver hair and cold eyes? Or would they look like their mother, who must have some resemblance to her black-eyed, crooked-mouthed brother?

She left her clothing on the floor and stepped into her shower, scrubbing at the wrist Kurama had touched. Then she remembered the note, and tried to keep herself from rushing; it didn't matter what he wanted to say to her, because he already had a woman. Botan growled, tears welling in her eyes. Why should she care? At least now she knew they should be professional. Yet that didn't explain his kiss.

Was he just using her until he returned to Meinuko?

#

Botan brushed her teeth, combed her hair, and hung her towel to dry over the door. Her kimono lay discarded on the floor, and somewhere within its folds was the note. She sifted through the fabric until she lifted the heap and shook it, hoping she hadn't dropped it somewhere in the halls.

A little clap sounded against the tile; the folded note had fallen at her feet. She jumped before she realized the gasp was her own.

It was little—not at all big enough to be a love letter or an in-depth apology. In the corner was a brown dot: _blood_. She calmed her racing heart, telling herself that he'd punctured his finger on a thorn from his rose, that it wasn't a big deal.

_But he never does that,_ she thought.

Now that the note was here for her to open, she was almost frightened; she had nothing to expect. Finally, frowning and determined, she unfolded the little scrap. Botan almost didn't recognize the writing; it was unusually sloppy, and she didn't see the point of writing a note if she couldn't read it. She strained her eyes to make out the brief message:

_Silence is safety. Invisible. Stay away._

"What in the world?" Botan tightened her bathrobe around her waist and padded to her bed. She lay back, staring up at the pink canopy, but not truly seeing it. _Silence is safety . . . he must not want me to say something. I didn't tell Koenma about the note, so I'm ahead on that count, at least. I hope that's what he meant._

She looked at the scrap again. _Invisible. _Did he truly think the Band of Shadows they had in custody was fake? And unless he had wanted to truly confuse her, she was certain he wouldn't have insisted the real artifact granted its wearer invisibility. If this were true, then Meinuko must have the ability to watch them all; she was never caught by Spirit World, and so her DNA was not in their records. Botan remembered the Artifacts of Darkness disaster—the alarm had begun to sound just as Kurama, Hiei, and Gouki had come into the palace. Even if Rushiyo were Meinuko's _twin_, his Spirit Energy was his own; the Spirit Defense Force virtually had no way of detecting Meinuko if she were to come on the premises.

If Kurama had the foresight to warn her about Meinuko's invisibility, should she keep it secret from Koenma? Wouldn't that be exactly what the Red Glove Gang wouldn't want? Or something? Did the note insist on silence about the contents of it as well as its existence?

Botan rubbed her eyes. He was putting too much faith in her.

_Stay away._ From what? He was the one who'd called her into Living World! _Who does he think he is?_

Someone knocked on her door. Maybe he was still in Spirit World, and had come to explain his note! Botan threw her legs over the bedside and peeked into the peephole.

She tucked her note away and opened her door to Jorge Saotome.

"Oh, Botan, it's awful," he panted. "Kurama stole the Band of Shadows and fled to Demon World!"

#

**And that's a wrap! How do you think this will play out? Do you all instantly hate Meinuko? Sorry about her stupid name; stupid names are my specialty. ;]**

**What is Fox-Boy up to? I can't even keep all his thoughts straight, and I've written them down; I've even numbered them! Alas, he has a very complicated brain.**

**Let me just say, I effing love writing to Koenma and Jorge. They're the most official couple of the series, no foolin'. I think they can legally get married in Canada. I'd definitely march for them. Shup, you would, too.**

**Sorry about the slow rate of updatery, but as the plot thickens, my brain is weighted down. It's hard to keep everyone's motivations clear to the reader, but not enough to make the plot predictable (I hope.).**

**Please leave flaming, fawning, and other f-words in the review box below! Zee, zah, zoxy wax. Voodoo.**


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